UFC light heavyweight Matt “The Hammer” Hamill (10-2) had been scheduled to meet Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis at UFC 129 at the end of April, but will now instead face former UFC champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (31-8) at UFC 130 in May.
Heavy.com reported the news this afternoon, citing a source close to the fight who told them verbal agreements had been made by both sides for the fight.
Jackson was have met Brazilian Thiago Silva at UFC 130 but his drug test from UFC 125 is still under scrutiny at this time and was likely the reason the promotion pulled him from the fight. Earlier reports had Jackson’s opposing “TUF” coach Rashad Evans stepping in for a rematch but nothing serious came out of this report.
Hamill is on a five fight win streak and was last in the octagon in October at UFC 121 where he earned a unanimous decision win over Tito Ortiz. That streak also saw him earn a majority decision over Keith Jardine, a DZ win against Jon Jones who was disqualified for using illegal elbows, a knockout head kick against Mark Muñoz, and a TKO win over Reese Andy.
Jackson is 1-1 in his last two, while 3-1 in his last four bouts. He earned a controversial split decision victory against Lyoto Machida at UFC 129, bouncing back from a unanimous decision loss to Rashad Evans. The two victories before that had him earn a unanimous decision against Keith Jardine and a knockout win over Wanderlei Silva earning him his first victory in three bouts against “The Axe Murderer.”